Construction by the Company of a new diesel servicing shop, equipped with the most up-to-date, facilities for the maintenance of its expanding fleet of diesel locomotives, is now underway at the railway's St. Luc yards in Montreal.

An important feature of the shops, scheduled to open next summer, will be a wheel-truing machine, designed to restore to normal the contours of worn flanges and treads of diesel locomotive wheels.

This device, which permits the machining of wheels without the time-consuming and more costly process of removing them from the locomotive's trucks, is the second of its kind to be operated in Canada, the first having also been installed by the Company in its new diesel shop built at Nelson, B.C., during 1953.

Other maintenance work can be performed on the diesel locomotive while wheels are in the process of being trued, an important factor in time saving.

Of steel frame and asbestos-cement walls, with concrete foundation and platforms, the new shops will be the latest of several modern additions to the St. Luc yard which already boasts the country's only hump-retarder as well as a recently installed diesel oil reclaiming plant.

Efficiency and economy of operation will be foremost considerations of the new shop, which will cover approximately 20,000 square feet in area, and whose design was developed by the railway's engineering department under the direction of R.A. Emerson, chief engineer.

The interior of the shop is dominated by two through tracks, these running the shop's full length and giving maintenance men ready access to all parts of the locomotive from different levels.

The lower floor, approximately three feet below rail level, will facilitate work on running gear, while an elevated platform some five feet above the rails will permit work on other parts with a maximum of speed, efficiency, and safety.

The shop area of the new plant will consist of three levels. The lower section, nine feet below the rails, will include the electrical switchboard room, lubricating oil tanks, pumps, and fan room. Another floor at platform level will house the foreman's office, filter cleaning plant, stores, and electrical shop. A lunch room, wash room, and locker facilities will be features of the top level.

Fresh air, steam heated when conditions warrant, will be distributed through the shop, for the comfort of personnel, by means of under-floor ducts.
 

Travellers soon will be able to reserve skyliner coach seats on the Company's transcontinental trains at no cost beyond the regular coach fare.

And the seats so reserved will be equipped with full length leg rests and reclining backs, ideal for night travel and long distance coach rides for those wishing to forego the added expense of a sleeping car berth.

Instructions to guide agents issuing tickets for this type of travel, never before on Canadian trains, were dispatched from Windsor Station recently by Ian Warren, General Passenger Traffic Manager.

Sparkling new scenic dome coaches, streamlined in stainless steel, have started to arrive from the builders, the Budd Company of Philadelphia, for this new service on our transcontinental runs, and eventually 18 of the cars will be in operation.

Next spring, the same reserved seat facilities of these coaches will be augmented by the placing in service of an additional 30 deluxe skyliner coaches, which are fitted with 60 adjustable leg-rest seats but not with scenic domes.

In addition to reserved seat facilities and scenic domes, the skyliner coaches now being delivered are equipped with attractive coffee shops for serving budget priced meals to the travellers. Meals and snacks will be served continually in these shops from early morning until late evening.

Included in the instructions issued to agents were the following:

Preference for the 26 reserved seats in the skyliner coaches is to be given long distance coach passengers. Passengers whose trips commence and terminate in daytime of the same day will be accommodated in non-reserved seat coaches of the picture window 2200 series.

Seats are not reserved in the scenic dome section of the skyliners, where there are 24 seats with all-round vision, nor will they be reserved in the coffee shop section.

A new type of ticket coupon form is being issued to cover reserved seats. These coupons are not to be lifted by conductors, but retained by passengers for identification purposes.

Agents were advised to state in requesting reservations for single seats the sex of the applicant so that adjoining seat can be assigned, where possible, to a passenger of the same sex.

The instructions noted that all classes of passengers, that is standard and tourist sleeping car passengers as well as coach passengers, will be entitled to use the scenic dome section of the skyliner coaches.